Hi all,

I'm relatively new to the forum having found the place about a week ago. I've already had some fantastic advice and this has really helped. Just thought I'd share with you how much...

On the 4th Jan I started running properly (i.e. every other day with abs training in between). I am 6' 2" and was 16st 5lb.

I did have a slight problem with stitches and, after advice from the forum, I left it longer after eating before going running and didn't drink as much water. This seemed to work.

I also slowed down my running due to advice from the forum and on Saturday (just gone) I managed to run 2.5 miles without stopping. I then walked for a quarter of a mile and ran the last quarter making a run of 3 miles with my personal best "non-stop" running stint in the middle of it.

I hopped on the scales last night out of curiousity and I've dropped to 15st 8lb !!

I'm really chuffed with my progress so far and I'm looking forward to my run this afternoon.

Just wanted to keep you all informed and thank you for the advice so far...

That's excellent Johnny!!! So glad to hear that we've been able to help! Seems like you're progressing at a very good rate and the weight loss is fantastic. Nearly a stone eh?! I can imagine you're feeling over the moon at the moment!

Glad to hear that the stitch problem wasn't anything more serious... did you still get a stitch at 2.5 miles? or did you stop through tiredness/fatigue?

Nice one JT.

Good to hear that it`s all coming together.

You`ve got every reason to feel chuffed with yourself.

Great effort JT, please to hear good progress is being made - keep at it.

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Premiership by the end of the 2009 :D

Richard, I stopped through fatigue at the bottom of quite a steep hill (for me anyways). I think it was psychological as well as tiredness. I 'speed walked' up the hill instead of running and was amazed how light my legs felt.

It has really amazed me how my fitness has improved and (although I never thought I'd be saying this) I'm really enjoying my running.

A big thanks for all your advice so far mate, you've helped me a lot.

My next plan is to do 2.5 miles non-stop for the next couple of weeks and then increase my distance up to 3 or 4 miles. Obviously I'll be back to walking some of it when the distance increases but hopefully my fitness will increase to a level whereby the walking parts keep getting reduced.

I haven't thought further than that... don't want to run before I walk... or maybe that should be don't want to run too far before I walk?!...

Glad I could be of some help!! Your plans sound very sensible and should see you on the road to a decent level of improvement without increasing your risk of injury.

That's pretty much what I did. I probably let myself plateau longer than I needed to. When I got to a point where I could do 3 miles comfortably I stayed there rather than push myself to do 4 or 5 and then feel a failure because I couldn't do it "non-stop"

Anyway, well done, keep it up.

Just on the point of this psychological thing that I mentioned. It seems to me that a lot of running is psychological. Everytime I run a bit further non-stop, its easier next time to run that distance. Almost like a psychological barrier is being smashed each time.

I wonder if its a bit like that "4 minute mile"... once somebody did it, lots of others followed suit...

Maybe our minds dictate what our bodies can do just as much as our muscles and fitness level??

psycology plays a big part in lots of the things we do negative and positive

Personally i'm of the i can i will i must brigade (except typing)

welcome to the forum it's good to have you on board

good luck with your training !!

Thanks for the welcome Cheriton.

The training is going brilliantly at the moment and I'm really enjoying it.

A couple of times on the last two runs I've done (today and Monday) I've taken a really deep breath and felt like I'm on a high!? I presume this is the feeling a lot of runners get but its nice to start breaking through the pain and misery and getting to the other side where I can really start to enjoy my running (if only for relatively short runs at the moment).

Well.... did the 2.4 mile run without stopping today and got a PB of 20.35 which I'm very happy with.

I was going to do my new 3.1 mile run but my calves were still a bit sore from doing it the first time on Tuesday so thought I'd better not risk it.

Hopefully get to do a 3 miler (not without stopping I don't think) on Saturday cos I'm down in Cumbria staying at my parents house.

My new Nike Equalons seem to have nailed that problem I had with shin splints... looks like I have been labelled a dreaded "over pronater". Presumably now I'll go on some register and have to check in to a police station once a week ??!?

It's a good job your not of the female variety according to a runners world survey99.1%of ladies are overpronators

Good to hear you've got your gait problem sorted !
take it easy Johnny

Maybe I'm just getting in touch with my female side through the medium of running...?!

Me too, although I've lost so much weight I've stopped wondering whether to buy a sports bra!

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"There is a great advantage in training under unfavorable conditions. It is better to train under bad conditions, for the difference is then a tremendous relief in a race."
Emil Zatopek

My weight loss hasn't been that significant. I'm 6' 2" and started off at 16st 5lb. After running for a couple of weeks I went down to 15st 8lb. Then after running another week I went up to 16st 0lb. Then I weighed myself yesterday (one week later) and I'm on 15st 13lb ?!?!?

The thing is I can see my body shape has changed, I'm loads fitter, and my jeans feel a lot looser around my waist but the scales don't seem to agree with me.

I'm telling myself that maybe its cos my legs have got musclier and muscle weighs heavier than fat....